Spin The Bottle

21 | I Like Her

Chapter Twenty One: I Like Her

An hour later, Chris is done with basketball practice. He heads home and arrives some minutes later.

Oh yeah, the new babysitter. He remembers.

The first thing he notices is that she doesn't have a car, or didn't come with one. He begins to hope she isn't yet another psycho. He prays she's different, if not, he'd make her quit one way or the other.
He steps into the house and shuts the door. Immediately, he hears the sound of the TV. Frozen. She's watching Frozen with the babysitter. At least that's a good sign.

He turns around. The first thing he notices is a mop of jet black hair on the couch that has it's back to the door. Why does that look so familiar? He asks himself.

"Emily," he calls, walking further into the living room.

Emily turns around on the couch on hearing her name and jolts out of the couch.
"Chris," she hugs him.

He hugs her back, smiling. He looks up at the new babysitter who has also turned around on the couch and he is shocked.

"Hazel?" He says in disbelief.

She rolls her eyes and answers with a glare. "It's Stephanie. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

She's still seated as she remembers the conversation they had in the morning. He just wants to be her friend? Puh-lease!

Chris ignores her statement and moves closer. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" She retorts.

Chris was expecting to see the new babysitter but instead, he sees Hazel. The only reasonable explanation of her being here is--
"You're babysitting Emily," he points out.

"Way to go, captain obvious." Steph snorts.

If Emily didn't believe Steph when she said she doesn't like her brother, she sure does now because it's clearly obvious. It looks like she feels the exact opposite about him.

"Why?" Chris voices out.

"None of your business," she snaps. Who does he think he is? It's none of his business just as she has said.

Emily who has been watching their interaction finally speaks up.
"Chris, be nice to Stephanie. You're upsetting her," she says.

Chris sighs. "I'll be up in my room."
Then he walks up the stairs to his room. She's clearly still upset about the conversation they had in the morning. Can you even call that a conversation?
He enters his room and sits on his bed after dropping his backpack on the floor.

Hazel is babysitting Emily.

At first, he didn't know she existed and then they kiss during a game. Now she seems to be everywhere. Even in his house. Emphasis on his.
He stays in his room for a while, thinking before he decides to have something to eat. He heads down and finds Stephanie reading Emily a book. He walks to the kitchen and decides to make himself a sandwich.

"Em?" He calls.

"Yeah," she answers and Steph pauses her reading out loud.

"Do you want a sandwich?" He yells from the kitchen.

"No, thanks."

"What about you Hazel?" He asks.

She rolls her eyes and doesn't answer him. How many times will she have to tell him not to call her that? Just a simple instruction.

Emily stares at her.

When she hasn't answered after some seconds, Chris sighs realizing why she didn't answer.